Southport Park Association was founded by community volunteers. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit association dedicated to restoring & preserving historically significant lakefront buildings & parks in Kenosha.
Our mission is to work with the City of Kenosha Department of Public Works, Parks Division, and the Historic Planning Commission as a U.S. non-profit organization, in order to promote the restoration, preservation, beautification, and utilization of lakefront parks and structures beginning with Southport Beach House and Park and to raise awareness of the historic, cultural, and educational significance of these community resources.
Southport Beach House is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
The Southport Beach House sits along Lake Michigan in the southeastern corner of Kenosha, a medium-sized city in the southeastern corner of Wisconsin with a population of approximately 99,631. Not far from the Illinois border, Kenosha is a lakeshore community with a long industrial and commercial history dating to the earliest era of settlement in Wisconsin. Recently, due to migration from the Chicago area, whose northern suburbs are only about 30 miles away, Kenosha has seen a large influx of new residents, many of whom commute to the Chicago area. A commuter rail link and easy access to Interstate 94 makes such a commute possible. This influx of new residents has meant considerable development of some areas on the outskirts of the city, but there has been less of an impact on the older part of the city, itself. The most significant new development of the older city has been redevelopment of the lakeshore, just east of downtown. This area, once the site of a large industrial complex, has been and is currently being developed into residential housing and expanded harbor facilities.
About two miles south of this lakefront development is the large Southport Park. The 29-acre park was added to the city of Kenosha in two sections. In 1928, 25 acres were purchased for the park and in 1934, a donation from Mrs. W. H. Alford increased the park area to almost 37 acres. However, eight acres have been removed from the park since its initial acquisition. Because of its late acquisition, it was one of the last parks to be developed and almost all of the park work was done during the mid to late 1930s using the federal government's work relief program, the WPA.
Kenosha Parks Association was formed in 1906 with the aim to develop an extensive park and beach system throughout the City of Kenosha. However, outside Library Park, land that had been donated to the City was largely undeveloped.
The Southport Beach House was built as a Works Progress Administration project from 1936 to 1940. The WPA grant enabled the City to provide work for unemployed workers during the Great Depression, and led to the creation of many of the parks buildings still in use today throughout Kenosha County.
City of Kenosha Architect Chris Borggren, designed the Southport Beach House. He created a unique structure using salvaged materials from the former Bain Wagon Works Company, slate from the Chicago and Northwestern Depot in Racine, and marble from the old Kenosha Post Office.
On January 8, 2003, this beautiful lakefront "mansion" on the shore of Lake Michigan was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Our mission is to work with the City of Kenosha Department of Public Works, Parks Division, and the Historic Planning Commission as a U.S. non-profit organization, in order to promote the restoration, preservation, beautification, and utilization of lakefront parks and structures beginning with Southport Beach House and Park and to raise awareness of the historic, cultural, and educational significance of these community resources.
